Precocious cessation of intestinal macromolecular transport by synthetic trypsin inhibitor in suckling rats.

Abstract

The effects of repeated oral administration of the synthetic trypsin inhibitor camostat on intestinal macromolecular transport and disaccharidase development were investigated in suckling rats. By daily treatment with camostat, bovine immunoglobulin (Ig) G transport in the intestine declined more rapidly in treated than in control rats. The absorption curve shifted to the left in treated rats 3 days before the controls. Morphological inspection of treated pups showed a decline in the number of epithelial cells that absorb bovine IgG and in their vesicle size from basal to upper regions of the villi. Maltase activity precociously increased with camostat treatment. Chronic subcutaneous injection of camostat did not cause any changes in IgG transport and maltase activity. The depression of IgG transport by oral treatment with camostat was not affected by the cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor antagonist L 364718 and was not inhibited by adrenalectomy. The absorptive responses of IgG and maltase activity were not affected by CCK-8 treatment. These data indicate that oral administration of camostat induces precocious maturation of the small intestine and that the effect is not mediated via endogenous CCK released by camostat.